Where in the World is DITA Being Used?

As a teaser for the upcoming “Mark III” version of the Companies Using DITA page, which will not only be expanded from the current list but will also include the locations for the HQ of each company/organization shown, I thought I’d give a preliminary glimpse as to what the geographic distribution of DITA use is shaping up to be.

After doing this survey it is clear to me that DITA usage is a world-wide phenomenon, though it should be a surprise to no-one who has been watching the industry that the highest adoption rates are within North American, Europe, and Asia.

USA DITA Distribution
Starting with the USA, it should be no surprise that the largest concentrations of DITA organizations are located primarily along the West Coast, then the East Coast and Texas with a significant pockets in and around the state of Illinois, as the following distribution map shows:

The majority of firms using DITA are software firms, which explains the heavy concentration in California and along the East Coast. Texas also has software firms, but it also has the highest concentration of semiconductors and oil firms that utilize DITA in their documentation processes. Illinois and the states surrounding it are more diverse, with DITA being used in Health Care Technology, Telecommunications, Training, Industrial Machinery Production and Financial services to name a few. (Only the continental US is depicted here as I haven’t been able to find any firms that use DITA that are headquartered in Alaska or Hawaii).

European DITA Distribution
Moving over to Europe, we see the heaviest concentration of organizations using DITA based in the U.K., followed by significant representations in France, Germany and The Netherlands:

Clearly DITA is not just for English-speaking firms. While the cost efficiencies of working with DITA for localization purposes are World Agroforestry Centre — and while it is safe to say that it is a driving force behind its adoption for some of the firms located on continental Europe, it is safe to say that is not the only reason for DITA adoption given the scale of its adoption in places like Germany, France and The Netherlands.

This should not be over-stated however, since the DITA adoption rate in Europe still lags significantly behind that of the USA. Note that the scale used on this map is not the same as on the map of the States; if you directly compare the two, the state of New York has a slightly higher DITA penetration rate than the whole of the UK. As the previous interview with Noz Urbina shows, while DITA has made significant inroads within UK/Europe, it still has some way to go.

DITA Usage by Continent
DITA usage is currently represented on all continents save for Antarctica:

Here you can see the relative dominance of North American firms/organizations that are using DITA as compared to the rest of the world, though it is also clear that there is significant usage in Europe and a growing portion in Asia (primarily Japan and Korean).

The continents of South America, Africa and Australia have representation on this graph, though this amounts to 1-2 firms/organizations per continent. The members of this group include the South American-based firm HyperWrite based in Uruguay, Africa is represented by the UN-associated World Agroforestry Centre in Kenya, and Australia is currently represented by the two firms HyperWrite and SitePoint.

I suspect that Spanish-speaking companies may be under-represented on the list, as the word “dita” in Spanish is a common term meaning “guarantee” or “surety”. If you know of any firms based in Latin America, South America or Spain that ought to be on the list, please let me know!

DITA Usage by Country
Last but not least, here is a complete breakdown of DITA usage by all countries in the world:

As you can see here, the USA is dominant, but the #2 player — Canada — also emerges. Within Canada the majority of the firms using DITA XML are based on Ontario, followed by British Columbia, Quebec and New Brunswick. Japan also emerges as a major DITA adopter, falling just after the UK in terms of usage, which is followed primarily by European countries, with France, Germany and The Netherlands leading the pack.

As for the “R.O.W.” (Rest Of World) slice, it is made up of single representative firms and organizations from the following countries:

• Hungary
• Italy
• Kenya
• Korea
• Pakistan
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• Uruguay

After doing this survey it is clear to me that DITA XML adoption is a world-wide phenomenon. While it clearly has its roots in the USA, over the past seven years since its launch, DITA has clearly made an impact on documentation processes around the world.

DITAWriter is run by DITA industry expert Keith Schengili-Roberts, who is currently looking for new work opportunities relating to DITA. If you have any enquiries, or have any additions you want to see added to the Companies Using DITA page, please email him.